On tap at Finz in Salem, MA, where apparently they get cool DFH brews because they always have three lines dedicated to the brewery.

Double IPA/American Strong brewed with granola, because we are all out of ideas.

Also, I don't know why I forgive the art for Rogue's Dead Guy but find this one so repulsive. The Dead's semiotics creep me out in general, but the bears... especially the bears.

Pours hazy dark gold, thick and limp. Smells like hops and grass--the weird adjunct nodes of the granola are nice and crisp and do a fantastic job cutting against the hops.

Doesn't taste quite as good as it smells. The first few sips are great: giant hops up front, weedy adjunct finish, good balance. The graininess becomes heavy as the beer warms, however, with the back end getting sweeter and sweeter until the balance is thrown off.

Strange. Usually with off kilter strong ales, especially old ales and barleywines, I wind up liking the beer more and more as I progress through the pint. This was the exact opposite. It never became bad, but I took my sweet time finishing it and probably won't order it again.

I'd call the "imperial pale ale" description accurate, calling it a strong ale or barleywine works too. It's just a big beer with a lot of everything. The hops aren't on par with Arrogant Bastard, they're a softer citrus punch. The malts are toasty with a granola-like sweetness (or maybe I'm imagining that because it's on the label). Very smooth and balanced for the strength, it feels at home in a red wine glass. It's a good trip.

DFH American Beauty is a sweet, nutty Imperial ipa that is both sweet & bitter. Perfect head, delicious smell of sweet hops. The sweetness & bitterness of the perfect caliber. Awesome reason & art of the bomber bottle label. Great for an at home cupples nightcap. Enjoyable to those just getting into IPA's of strong ales. I prefer more of the bitter IPA's or douple/imperials. Give this Dogfish Head brew a try whenever the opportunity. Enjoy!

Appearance: This is a beautiful beer to look at. The initial pour showed unexpectedly good head retention, even for a sticky APA like this one. A rich, rosy amber colour with fluffy, white head, and very minimal lacing (unsurprising given the 9% abv)

Smell: The honey granola is immediately apparent, didn't pick up on the almonds like some others. Hops are understated, but sweet in the nose of this one. Kind of a sweet smell, overall, with not much complexity to it.

Taste: Good, but falls short of great. The taste of almonds and granola are apparent, but seem trapped beneath the intense hop flavors. Very little honey shows through, but I'm okay with that. The factor that holds this brew back from greatness is the lack of harmony between the flavors. Rather than the sweet nutty start, and clean floral finish I expected, I was left with a muddled mix of flavors that seem to taper off simultaneously.

Feel: I really prefer a stronger body on a brew this strong and ambitious. I feel like some interesting malt characteristics may have held the flavors together nicely, but was instead left with mild, understated mouthfeel. The carbonation is very apparent, and the well-concealed boozy-ness makes an appearance at the back of the throat. Other than that, the mouthfeel is nothing special, if not weak. This would be a great feel for a less ambitious brew, but with such a pronounced flavor, the contrast is somewhat unsettling.

Overall: Pretty good, but from this brewery, I expected much more. Dogfish Head is an industry leader when it comes to Pale Ales, and I'm not sure how they went wrong with this one. From any other brewery, I would be thrilled to find this beer. Unfortunately, by a very slight margin, my expectations were not met.

I'm not sure whether I would pick up this brew again. I don't want to say it wasn't good( because it really was quite good), but any store that stocks this is bound to have something better for the same price tag.

Appearance – 92: My initial pour revealed a medium amber color, which turned to a beautiful golden hue in shades of the light. The head was surprisingly thin, and lasted for only a moment before becoming a white ring of bubbles around the glass. (Rather than a touch of grey, as it were).

Aroma – 85: Given that this beer (unlike most IPAs) has several unique infusions of granola, honey and almonds rather than the typical floral fare that one would come to expect, the smell was a little underwhelming. Smooth and crisp to be sure – the almonds are certainly detectable playing around with the barley.

Body and Texture – 86: As expected of an IPA, the body was extremely light and pleasant, and I was immediately greeted by a thin fruitiness (almost a white grape like quality) which shifted to the granola before leaving with a mild malted taste.

Taste – 85: Sadly, I was somewhat disappointed by the overall taste of this beer, as the notes of honey, granola and almonds were completely drowned out by the hops and barley. For those who have tasted the brewery’s most popular offering (the 90 minute IPA) – this has a very similar taste to it, if slightly sweeter. Given that both almonds and granola don’t pack very unique tastes (and the honey used appeared to be simply a sweetener) the overall impression was slightly bland. This isn’t to suggest that it is a boring beer, but when I read the various infusions, I was expecting them to pack a little more punch. Perfectly acceptable as a tribute beer to the Grateful Dead, and to get myself in the mood I cranked “Uncle John’s Band” to get the mojo flowing. However, this definitely wasn’t this brewery’s best showing.

Overall – 85.5 (Good) The lasting memory that I’ll retain of this brew is the artwork on the bottle (a Grateful Dead bear sporting a foaming pint glass), rather than the actual taste itself. Had the additions been more prevalent in the taste it would have certainly received a much higher rating, but the dry-hopped barley overpowers the other flavors. For fans of the brewery, I would recommend purchasing one of their other offerings over this. It is still an above-average beer with a higher ABV than most which is smooth and crisp, but not enough distinction to truly be remembered.

Purchase Value (B) – “Bombers” are typically more expensive than six-packs, as was the case here – $11.99 for a 750 mL bottle is about average for a 90+ rated beer, but it felt like I was paying for the artwork and tribute nature of the beer, rather than the taste.